I really didn't really plan much for this cruise as we had so much going on before it like a funeral and a wedding, so my level was much lower than previous cruises just because we didn't have time to think too much about it. I'll break it down to the sections, there were some really good things, but it seemed like more bad than good at times. I don't have an option to rate it 2.5 so I'm going with 2 because of an ongoing issue.

Embarkation: What a mess! We arrived there somewhere around 11:45 and it was a zoo. Once we got on the escalator up, as usual with RCI, there was no room for passengers to go and many were pushing their way off the escalator and into other passengers who had no where to move to. They do this every week, why is this still an issue? This is a safety issue and they need to address it though. Upstairs, we looked for priority check in, the agent told us there wasn't one anymore and they were putting people into that line that did not have priority. Even better was being told to leave that line and go to the even longer regular line. It took over an hour to get through that queue just to get up to check in. Now we move on to security. I called prior to the cruise to make sure I could still bring a steamer on board, I was told yes, just no irons. Well, not so. I had to wait on the side while they took apart my entire bag. Medications were dumped out and when I reached to grab it before it fell off the table I got yelled at. Sorry, not acceptable. I kept my cool the whole time and took my claim check and was told I'd have to claim it after the cruise. Repeat after me....you are on vacation, don't sweat this lol!

Getting on board: Easy to get on the ship, no one greeted us or welcomed us even though there were crew members standing there speaking to each other, in fairness they ignored all of us that were getting on that I could tell. We weren't sure what time cabins were going to be ready so we were just going to walk around until we found someone. We happened on to a very nice crew member who was selling the specialty dining packages. I WISH I could remember his name because he was able to help us with any questions, he set up our dining times and made a note that it was my birthday on Saturday which was why we wanted Chops Grill. By the time we got done, our cabin was ready so we took our elevator up and dropped our things off. Read more